Tigers Edge Devils to Win Series

Aaron Sloan

03/04/2007

The Sun Devils and the Tigers battled it out again on Sunday afternoon, and once again the Tigers came out on top 7-6. The win gave the 23rd ranked Tigers the series, and left the tenth ranked Devils wondering what happened to the pitching staff over the weekend.

The Tigers came up with the clutch hits late, and once again the Devils failed to execute late in the game with the tying and go ahead runs aboard.

The Devils found themselves in an early 4-1 hole, but battled back to take the lead after a four run third inning. The Tigers scored two more in the fourth to regain the lead, but the Devils would tie the game at six just an inning later. The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Tigers scored the go ahead run on a sac-fly. The runner who scored got on base after being hit by a pitch, and after a sac-bunt, advanced to third on a wild pitch.

The Devils bullpen really struggled in the two losses with their control, and ability to get the big out when the Devils needed it most. The Devils had a chance in the ninth, as they loaded the bases for the second straight night, but unfortunately came away empty for the second straight night leaving all three runners stranded. To put it simply the Tigers out played and out coached the Devils and came away with the series. They capitalized with the clutch hitting, their bullpen was able to get the big out, and their coaching staff made the right changes at the right times.

Brett Wallace was on of the bright spots on the day for the Devils, going 4-for-5 with one run and three RBI's. Matt Hall also continued to put his early season slump behind him, going 2-for-4 with two RBI's. Joey Parigi did do a decent job out of the bullpen in relief of starter Dustin Brader. Parigi gave up just two runs in 5.1 innings of work while striking out seven, but he also gave up seven walks.

The Devils are now 12-5 on the year, and will have another tough series on their hands this weekend, as they host the #18 Long Beach State Dirtbags (8-4). The first game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night.